Terry Kubicka (born April 3, 1956) is an American retired

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

who is known as the first American to perform the difficult triple Lutz jump. He is the 1974 Prague Skate champion, 1975 Skate Canada International bronze medalist, and 1976

U.S. national Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

champion. He competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Terry Kubicka was born on April 3, 1956, in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from California Polytechnic State University and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. In September 1982, he married his wife, Annie, with whom he has three children – Katie, Christopher, and Scott.

Skating career

Kubicka decided to begin skating after his parents took him to the

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

show. Evy Scotvold coached him for nine years, from group to private lessons. Kubicka won silver at the 1972 Grand Prix International St. Gervais, gold at the 1974 Prague Skate, and bronze at the 1975 Skate Canada International. At the 1974 U.S. Championships, he became the first American to land the triple

Lutz jump The Lutz is a figure skating jump, named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater who performed it in 1913. It is a toepick-assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is the ...

in competition. He landed three triple jumps in his long program and in the process won second place and a spot at the World Championships. Kubicka said that he had landed it in the short program but it was not filmed so he did it again in the long. Next year, he won silver at the U.S. Championships and competed at the World Championships again. In 1976, he won the U.S. national title, landing five triple jumps in the long program and landing his first back flip. He was named to the American team for the 1976 Winter Olympics in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Austria, where he became the first and only skater to perform a legal backflip; it was banned after the competition. To the present time, this move is his most important claim to ice skating fame. Less remembered is his ability to land five of the six triple jumps (except the Axel). In comparison, the gold medalist (

John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British Figure skating, figure skater. He was the 1976 1976 European Figure Skating Championships, European, Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, Olympic and World Figure Sk ...

) landed only three triple jumps in winning his Olympic gold medal. Indeed, it would not be until 1983 that any skater would land all six different kinds of triple jumps in competition.

Brian Boitano Brian Anthony Boitano (born October 22, 1963) is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985–1988 U.S. National Champion. He turned professional foll ...

accomplished that feat at the World Championships. After ending his competitive career, Kubicka toured with

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

for three years then left skating to become a veterinarian. In 2005, he returned to skating as a National Technical Specialist. He was named an International Technical Specialist as of August 1, 2007.

Results

References

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubicka, Terry 1956 births American male single skaters Olympic figure skaters of the United States Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Living people People from Fairfield, California University of California, Davis alumni